After more research, I finally found Antoni Maciejewski’s birth record in the Toruń archives. He was born 17 Feb 1883 in the little village of Zgniłobłoty (Zgnilloblott, Zgniłebłoto, Faulenbruch, Königsmoor) near Wądzyn, in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. His birth name was listed as Anton Marzejewski in the German record. His birthdate, his parents’ names, and the general area match what we know about him.

1883 Anton Marzewski birth – Toruń Archives

Once I found Antoni’s birth in the Toruń Archives, I went to Kartenmeister.com to learn more about Wonsin and Zgnilloblott.

As expected, the column headings are Latin. Antoni’s father’s and grandfather’s names are Maciejewski, but the middle letters “ci” look something like”rz” so it looks a bit like Marzejewski. The baptism record says he was born on February 15th and baptized on February 18th, but Antoni consistently claimed the birthdate of 17 February 1883 in American records. Antoni’s father Jan Maciejewski was born in Tillitz, and his father was Tomasz, so Antoni’s godfather may have been his grandfather, his uncle, or one of their cousins.

In 2010, the Bobrowo Parish celebrated its 750th anniversary. Over the course of hundreds of years, this area has been alternately German and Polish, with names that changed accordingly. The German Genealogical GenWiki website offers this graphic of the modern and older German history of the place called Zgniłobłoty, Zgnilloblott, Zgniłebłoto, Faulenbruch, and Königsmoor:

[…] Born 17 Feb 1883, Antoni Maciejewski was only a baby when he arrived in Buffalo from Prussia in December 1883 with his parents, Jan and Weronika Lewandowski Maciejewski. Along with his mother, Antoni became an American citizen when his father Jan Maciejewski was naturalized in 1890. Antoni‘s brothers and sisters were born in Buffalo, and were therefore native born American citizens. […]

[…] 1883, Jan and Weronika Lewandowska Maciejewski immigrated to Buffalo, New York, with their infant Antoni. The family grew with the arrival of Konstanty (August), Wiktorya (Dorota), Marya, Anna, and […]

[…] She became pregnant again, and nine months later, in February of 1883, they had my grandfather Antoni. Later that same year they immigrated to America, where they added five more children to their […]